Nashville not intimidated by Red Wings' Hasek

AP PhotoRed Wings goalie Dominik Hasek leans against the goal as Nashville players pile on Jason Arnott after Arnott scored the go-ahead goal in the third period of Game 3 on Monday.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Detroit Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hasek had probably never been compared to a country music star before Nashville coach Barry Trotz used the analogy on Tuesday.

"There is an aura, but we've played Dom so many times," Trotz said. "He's still a great goaltender, he's going to go down in history as one of the best ever, but it's just like meeting someone famous here in Nashville. I'm probably intimidated the first time I meet him, but after seeing someone 10 or 15 times, it becomes commonplace."

In other words, Hasek is not going to get inside the Predators' heads, like he has done before against so many teams. Nashville is singing a different tune after scoring two goals in nine seconds late in the third period Monday to pull out a 5-3 victory in Game 3 of this first-round playoff series. Now it's up to Hasek and the Red Wings, who lead the series 2-1, to respond tonight in Game 4 at the Sommet Center.

"Of course, you're angry, but it was more disappointed than angry because you feel you are so close and you lose the game," Hasek said. "So you have anger, but this is something that is good. To be angry, there is nothing bad about it, it makes you even more motivated the next game."

Hasek was twice pulled from games during a disastrous first period in two of his final seven starts in the regular season. He bounced back strong each time.

"I give up a few goals, it upsets you; if you don't have the best game, you feel like you should have a better game the next night," Hasek said. "As a team we didn't play our best game, myself included. So I feel like I have something to improve and be better the next day."

Hasek doesn't feel the Predators generated any more scoring chances in Game 3. They just scored on more of them. Ryan Suter and Jason Arnott scored the tying and winning goals, respectively, on shots Hasek believes he should have stopped.

"I cannot blame myself for every goal, but I feel like there were goals I could make a save on," Hasek said. "They definitely were good shots, however, this is something I should improve in Game 4."

Hasek has allowed goals on consecutive shots three times in the past two games. Red Wings coach Mike Babcock isn't holding Hasek solely responsible for the quick strikes but acknowledged that it's more than just a coincidence, it's a pattern.

"It's ugly, isn't it?" Babcock said. "If I'm watching someone else do it, I'm saying there's no composure, so how can a veteran group not be composed? That's what we talked about this morning. We all know the shift after you score or they score is one of the biggest shifts of the game. It controls momentum. (Nashville) is a momentum team, they've been like that all year."

Detroit has outshot Nashville 104-76 in the series, but Trotz believes his club has done a good job of getting pucks on Hasek.

"One of the things I've always said was people get too fine with Dom, because he's Dominik Hasek and what he had done," Trotz said. "Sometimes if you get too fine you try to pick that corner and now you've missed the net by three feet. You look every night at how goals are going in, you got to get people to the net, shoot pucks. That's why Detroit has been so good through the years, they put a lot of pucks on net all the time."

"We just try to put as much pressure on him as we can," Predators center Jason Arnott said. "He's such a great goaltender that you either got to get traffic or you got to try to put it where he's not, and it's a tough situation because he's in the right spot at the right time most of the time."

Mitch Korn, Nashville's goaltending coach, also has inside knowledge of Hasek, after working with him for several years in Buffalo.

"He knows Dominik inside and out, that's a real advantage to us," Trotz said. "He knows his ways and tendencies, and Mitch is great at breaking down goaltenders and relaying information to our guys. Scoring on him is still going to be difficult."